


His Legacy

by killiuas



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brother Feels, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, D Brothers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other, god... ace., ivankov i love u btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killiuas/pseuds/killiuas
Summary: “Ace?” Luffy whispered, scrunching his face in confusion, and Sabo felt utterly helpless as he heard his younger brother choke on the name. “Ace… shouldn’t have been born?”
Relationships: Monkey D. Dragon & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Comments: 16
Kudos: 197





	His Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder what the eventual Luffy and Dragon meeting will be like lol

He observed the sight, a flurry of hands, a chorus of shouts and a sharp scrape of chairs moving as the crew’s swordsman and cook took up what seemed to be fighting stances. Sabo couldn’t help the small snicker that escaped him, because of course Luffy would have chosen a crew as wild and rambunctious as him. Said boy was currently stuffing his face with anything his hands could grab onto, which was a lot in his case, as the blonde saw him stretch an arm out towards a crew member’s chunk of meat. The fishman smiled fondly at his captain’s antics instead of mourning his loss of food, which would have been the _normal_ reaction given the situation but he had once again today, been shown that Luffy’s nakama go far beyond anything but simply normal.

A familiar set of footsteps and alerting presence tore Sabo's attention away from Luffy and his crew, his eyes resting instead on the man clad in a green cloak to whom he owed his life. Monkey D Dragon strode into the mess hall of the revolutionary army’s newest base with Koala and Ivankov in tow, the former stopping to take her instinctive place at Sabo’s side. The air shifted slightly, like a feather being ruffled softly, tentatively, and Luffy’s nakama halting their process of eating, with Luffy being the only exception, didn’t go unnoticed by Sabo. There was an unsaid agreement as both sides waited a beat for someone to break the silence that had begun to settle uncomfortably. Luffy’s crew bar Robin had never actually met his father and only knew of him through his ever so powerful name and the alarmed whispers thrown cautiously.

“So...” began Dragon’s commanding voice, and both parties relaxed a fraction as the initial uncomfortableness seemed to wear away with Dragon’s one word. “Laugh Tale huh?” Luffy paused his activity at this, deciding to turn around in his chair to face his father, a bone sticking out his mouth, his cheeks rounded and on on the brink of bursting had he not been a man made out of rubber. “I never knew it was my own son.” Dragon stated, and Sabo noted a hint of light pride in his tone that would have been easily missed had he not known the man for years. “To think our plan had been set back by two whole years because I was looking for the wrong individual, when they were right in front of me... when it was my own son!” Dragon chuckled incredulously to himself and Ivankov in turn shot a look of... _annoyance_? towards him.

Sabo felt his lips tug downwards.

“Two years ago—”

“Dragon…” Ivankov practically snarled, taking a step forward but was cut short as the former continued unperturbed.

“Two years ago, our plan was brazenly disrupted by the death of Portgas D Ace.” The previous uncomfortableness that had whittled away came back in full force with the mention of the pirate, giving everyone in the room most definitely whiplash. Sabo, himself, jerked up from where he was leaning against the pillar upon hearing his late brother’s name. His eyes flew to Luffy who sat with his head hung low, his straw hat that usually adorned his face, proudly, now covered it, casting a large, dark shadow.

“You know, I had met Roger before he died” Dragon pressed on, and Sabo didn’t know who he was addressing, a small part of him assumed that perhaps it was himself. “He told me about the prophecy and knowing the man he was, the man from my father’s countless stories, I knew he had made some provisions. I just never knew it was an actual _son_.” Dragon halted, grimacing.

Sabo almost swore he saw Luffy’s fists clench tightly on his lap. His mind flickering back to his brother’s fight with Don Chinjao.

“The announcement confirmed by Sengoku of the boy’s lineage, of Roger’s own flesh and blood, invoked a hope in me that I see now was utterly foolish on my part.” Dragon again chuckled, bitterly this time, as Ivankov looked away. “To think the son of Roger, _Gold Roger_ , died without having achieved anything akin to the likes of his father is such shame.” He at least had the grace to look remorseful at this. “What _did_ he accomplish? What did he leave behind?” Dragon muttered, pondering over something Sabo was pained he had no knowledge of. “Perhaps it would have been better if the boy wasn’t even—“

The abrupt movement from Luffy, who had been uncharacteristically silent and still, had all heads turning to face him, his crew watching him with baited breaths. Something told the blonde that Dragon had uttered a sort of taboo that even Luffy’s nakama were forbidden from and the glances of trepidation and guilt in their eyes did little to dispel the tight feeling growing in back of his throat. “What?” Luffy urged quietly, his hat still covering his face, and it dawned on Sabo that it was not melancholy that cast a shadow on Luffy’s face but something else entirely. Something that was shown through Luffy’s shaking fists, bunched at his sides, and the malicious tone with which he addressed his father.

Anger, Guilt, _Love_.

“It would have been better if what?” Luffy said, louder this time, speaking to Dragon directly, for what Sabo dimly remembered was the first time ever. “If _he_ what?” Luffy breathed and Sabo could see his younger brother’s chest tremor ever so slightly, his voice catching gingerly on the pronoun.

Dragon’s lips pursed into a thin line as he crossed his arms. “I know. I know what his relation was to you, that he was your sworn brother, but—“

“But what?” Luffy interrupted again, raising his head and Sabo reeled back from the look on his face. His breath hitched in his aching throat. He had seen Luffy weep, seen him bawl and wail about letting Ace die that day as he clutched onto him in the coliseum. But what Sabo was seeing now was beyond that, it wasn’t just sorrow but _anger_. Anger at what he didn’t know.

The world? Dragon? _Himself?_

With each musing he felt himself distance further and further away from the boy in front of him, from the brother in front of him. This wasn’t the Luffy he thought he knew, the Luffy from his short-lived memories. That Luffy would run around with them in the forest, would spend hours playing with them in the sun, a toothy grin plastered on his face as he raced up to catch them if they so happened to get ahead. That Luffy would smile widely, carefree, as he swung his hands out in front of him in an effort to catch up quicker, his brows knitting together as he called,

_“Ace!”_

And the freckled boy, as always, would falter, and that, as always, was enough for Luffy. Enough for him to reach them.

Dragon shifted under his son’s stare and Sabo felt as if he was torn between two sides. The man looked ahead, past Luffy and his glare, mulling over something. It was fleeting, however, as he set his jaw and met his son’s gaze again. “Perhaps it would have been better if the boy wasn’t even born in the first place.” Dragon finally finished bleakly, and Sabo had barely enough time to register the fact that Luffy had swung his fist out in front of him to punch his father square in the face. He, on instinct and familiarity alone, dove on the ground towards Dragon, placing a firm hand on his leader's shoulder, as he looked up at Luffy. “You heard what he _said_ , Sabo.” Luffy addressed him simply, yet his eyes were still trained on Dragon. Sabo couldn’t help but flinch.

_(“Something tells me that what I truly wanted was not fame.”)_

“He shouldn’t have been born?” Luffy stopped himself, his eyes dropping to the ground, remembering something that his brother so desperately wished he was privy to. “Ace?” Luffy whispered, scrunching his face in confusion, and Sabo felt utterly helpless as he heard his younger brother choke on the name. “Ace… shouldn’t have been born?” he continued, standing straighter, this time not an ounce of waver in his voice and movement as he took one step forward.

_(“Do I even deserve to have been be born?”)_

Dragon stirred at Sabo’s side, applying pressure on his now bloodied nose. There was a beat of silence before Luffy exclaimed, “without no Ace there would be no Luffy!” Sabo recognised a hint of childishness in the statement. It was so simple, so juvenile. It was something that the Luffy he _did_ know would have said, the same Luffy that spent months upon months chasing after Ace.

_(“What I wanted was the answer to that question.”)_

“I would not be standing here without Ace! Standing here as your son, as a brother, as their captain!” Luffy pointed a finger towards his nakama who all, other than the fishman, seemed to have looks of astonishment and wonder on their faces. Sabo knew this outburst was unprecedented. Luffy never was one to dwell on past events, always looking ahead, always moving forward, towards his currently not so distant dream.

But the past was now all Luffy had left of Ace.

“Ace saved me.” Luffy announced, his head held high, and Sabo saw a glimpse of the pirate who had just defeated two of the dreaded Yonkos, the pirate who was headed to Laugh Tale, to become the King. “And I don’t just mean two years ago.” Ivankov and the fishman exchanged a look, and the pieces Sabo heard from the newspapers and hushed stories started to sink in.

( _“_ _After all the stuff I put you through, why did you still follow me out here?"_

_"Because I have no one else to rely on!"_

_"Being alone, is worse than being in pain."_

_"If I'm around would it be better? If I were gone would it be worse?"_ )

Sabo was beginning to see what Luffy meant.

“Ace made me the person I am today,” his brother declared, taking another step towards him and Dragon, the latter still nursing his nose. “What did Ace _do_? What did he leave behind?” Luffy halted and Sabo saw anger flash in his younger brother’s eyes again. “He left me! _I_ am what he left behind. His legacy!” Luffy cried out placing a steady hand on his chest, on the rough X shaped scar that covered his heart. Sharp intakes of breaths from his crew were heard, as Sabo caught sight of Ivankov’s tremble and wondered just how much of the war his comrade managed to witness.

He never did want to ask.

Luffy let out a faint chuckle, drawing Sabo back. “The whole world, including you,” his gaze on his father again, “was chasing Roger’s back...” Sabo watched Luffy’s eyes grow distant, fondness filling them, as he murmured, “but I was too busy chasing his son’s.”

Ace was gone. He knew that, but as Sabo looked at Luffy, he saw in him the freckled brother he missed the chance to see grow.

And so he smiled despite himself, a hand still on Dragon’s shoulder. Images of Luffy running after Ace, running along with Ace, flashing in his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> It breaks my heart when I think about the fact that ace basically raised/looked after luffy for seven years, and was with luffy for the longest compared to any other bond in universe (sabo was presumed dead after a year, shanks he again only spent a year with, garp/dadan/makino were on and off and the strawhats he’s only known for roughly two years) which is why luffy says ace saved him because he did, he was the first person to save luffy from his loneliness, becoming a constant in his life until he set out to sea and then you know... died


End file.
